Edison Police seized several homemade explosive devices packed with gunpowder from the home of a 16-year-old Edison High School student on Sunday night. Police Chief Thomas Bryan said the devices were powerful enough to kill someone.Star-Ledger File Photo

EDISON — A handful of homemade explosive devices, stuffed with gunpowder and ready to detonate, was seized from the home of a 16-year-old Edison High School student Sunday night, township Police Chief Thomas Bryan said tonight.

Police found fuses attached to "less than six" carbon dioxide cartridges packed with gunpowder when they searched the teenager’s Edison home, Bryan said. Officers also recovered fireworks and several disassembled shotgun shells, which are normally packed with pellets that can be used as shrapnel in an explosive device, according to Bryan.

While Bryan said the weapons could have been deadly, police do not believe the teen had a specific plan to detonate the devices.

"There is no immediate threat that was able to be determined," said Sgt. Robert Dudash, a township police spokesman.

If the weapons had exploded, Bryan said they could have killed someone. He likened the devices to the shrapnel-loaded pressure cooker bombs used in the Boston Marathon attacks earlier this month.

"Anything that’s stuffed with gunpowder and shrapnel and BBs and has that much force can certainly do a lot of damage," Bryan said. "Think about what happened in Boston. They were pressure cookers and how big are they?"

The teenager, whose identity was withheld due to his age, was charged with possession of homemade bomb devices and released into a relative’s custody, Bryan said. The 16-year-old was interviewed by police after his arrest, but Bryan would not elaborate.

Police learned of the teenager when a township resident responded to a reward flier seeking information about bomb threats made against the high school earlier this month, Bryan said.

The threats caused evacuations at the school on April 15, 16, and 17. The teen has not been charged in the threats.

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Edison Schools Superintendent Richard O’Malley said the student has been removed from Edison High School for the time being.

"I am disheartened to learn that one of our students is involved in this type of activity," O’Malley said via e-mail tonight. "However, I am very grateful and pleased in the tireless efforts of the Edison Police Department in making this arrest."

The Federal Bureau of Investigation was also notified of the arrest, according to Bryan, who said the agency has been helping police investigate the bomb threats made against the school.

Police found threatening notes outside the school and written on a bathroom wall on April 15, 16 and 17, which threatened that a bomb would go off at the school.

A suspicious package, reported at the school last week, Bryan said was determined to be a suitcase left behind by a teacher.